Telemechanic installation



A; M. MAYER TELEMECHANIC INSTALLATION.

APPLICATIONHLED SEPT-23, 19-20.

1,435,868. Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

h XWM.

Writ/g,

A. M. MAYER.

TELEMECHANIC INSTALLATION.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-23,1920.

Patented Nov. 14, 1922'...

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

Mar ue? Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARMANI) MAX MAYER, OF LEVALLOIS-PERRET, FRANCE.

TELEMECHANIC INSTALLATION.

Application filed September '23, 1920. Serial No. 412,166.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ARMAND MAX MAYER, engineer, citizen ofv the French Republic, residing at Levallois-Perret, department of Seine, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telemechanic Installations, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to telemechanic installations, that is installations wherein a movement is to becfi'ected at. a distance, by using on the one hand a transmitting agent such as electricity transmitting its effect either by wires or Hertzian waves, and using at" the other hand for the production of the actual movement the current of a local source of electricity.

Its object is to improve the preciseness of action of such installations.

It consists principally in such an arrangement and such usage of the elements combined in the arrangement that the resulting effect of the tele-signal becomes complete only at the moment of the ceasing of said tele-signal, and only if the current determined by the tele-signal has acted in the same direction during a protracted period.

It consists moreover in the application of arrangements of the above nature to the telemechanic correction of the indications of movingapparatus such as meters and especially clocks, and it consists finally in other arrangements hereinafter referred to, with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples of embodiment and of application, and in which drawings Fig. 1 is an axial' diagrammatic section of one element of the installation.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammaticallydn an installation the application of the element shown in Fig. 1- as used for the abrupt correction of clocks by means of Hertzian waves.

Fig. 3 shows in a similar view another form of installation for the same purpose and wherein the correction is effected abruptly and in "two steps.

Fig. 4 shows in a similar view an installation having the same object but wherein the influence of the setting obtained through the telemechanic intervention acts all the time.

With reference to Fig. 1, 1 is'the reciprocable core of a solenoid relay the winding 2 of which is under the influence of the electric signals sent out from a distance, The

core is arranged to travel through a substantlal part of its stroke before its projection 3 comes in contact with a contact-lever 4 pivoted on a bracket 5. Such stroke can be traveled only under the action of a protracted current acting for a considerable time 1n the same direction and the tele-signal is arranged to provide such a current. Thus the danger of the reacting of the contactdevice to parasitic currents, or signals not intended for the working of the solenoidrelay, is obviated. The said danger may be still lessened in causing a mechanical resistance to hinder the upward movement of the core 1 so that said movement will fully take place only under currents of a very constant and protracted character, the descent of the core being left unhindered.

The contact-lever 4 is pivoted to a fixed isolated bracket 5. The pointed end of lever 4 lies in the path of the projection 3 and oppos te to the other end of the lever 4 there is a contact 6 fixed to an elastic plate 7. A coil spring 8 holds the lever 4 normally in a horizontal position, though permitting the same to be moved by the projection 3 either up or down. I v During the upward motion of the projection 3 there will be no contact between lever 4 and contact 6 asthe pointed end of the lever will be ulled up and fall down again, the core itse f remainingas long 'as the tele-signal lastsin the highest position which it can occupy; but at the precise moment when the tele-signal ceases, or else the current ceases in the winding 2 of the solenoid-relay, the core 1 will fall down and cause the lever 4 to pressagainst contact 6 in lifting the same, finally the core 3 continuing its fall and the edge of the projection 3 passing the lever 4, the latter will resume its horizontal position of rest in which there is no contact between lever 4 and contact 6. The short duration of contact described is utilized in order to effect the telemechanic movement which is intended, 'in using the energy of a source of electricity the poles of which are connected to lever 4 and contact 6. Y i

Such device as described acts at the end of a protracted tele-signal, or. the, ceasing of a protracted current emitted from the controlling station.

Such device may be applied either for the setting to the zeropoint of apparatus which is not in movement such as for instance, a

thermostat, or for the correction magnetic waves,

ferent clocks are certainly of theshowing of an apparatus in motion such for instance as a clock.

In I the latter case the relay, shown in Figure 1, may be applied to the installation shown in Fig. 2, intended for the correction of a clock by wireless signals and wherein 9 is the aerial for the reception of the elec tromagnetic waves, 10 is an amplifying and detecting device for the waves, which produces for instance a direct current actuating a sensitive relay 11 of any convenient type which in its turn acts on a special retarded relay 12 which is identical to the-solenoidrelay shown in the Figure 1. The act ion'of the amplifier 10 on the sensitive relay 11 is dependent on the intensity of the electrowhich is variable, on the. contrary the current sent by the said sensitive relay 11 into the special retarded relay 12 is of constant intensity being dependent upon the constant voltage of a convenient source of current 13. 'When the said special retarded relay-12 produces a contact, at the end of the tele-signal, a final relay 16 is ac-- tuated. Its armature acts through a finger 17' on a correcting cam 18 of the known form of a heart. This correcting cam 18 is in invariable connection with the handsof the clock. If the clock is accurate, the point of the correcting cam which is nearest to the center will be just opposite the finger when the tele-signal of the hour 'is ended. If this is not the case the finger 17 in gliding on the cam towards the said nearest point will correct the positio'n' of the hands. The beginning of the stroke of the armature of the final relayi 16 may for a moment throw the mechanism of the clock out of gear with the. hands and thus permit their setting by the correcting cam 18. I The contact action of the special retarded relay 12 being only momentary the going of the clockwork con-- tinues all the time, the telemechanic efiect being an abrupt correction of the hands only.

' The conditions of functioning of the installation are as follows.

First of all the intensity of the current derived from. the amplifier 10 must be sufficient (say one milli-ampere )in order to produce a contactin the sensitive relay 11.' Second its duration must be long enough (say three seconds) in order to raise completely the core 2 of the special retarded relay 12. T he tele-signal itself must have a duration longer than the said three seconds in order, that there may be a sufiicient security for the complete raising of the core. When the telesignal lasts for six seconds and when the installation consists of a great number of clocks to be set, all the cores 2 of the dif ferent special retarded relays of the difon their highest point when the tele-signal ceases (afterhavof the clock at about thirty messes ing produced during 6 seconds a current of constant intensity in the windings of the different relays 12). At the precise moment predetermined, for the end of the tele-signal (for instance at each midnight) the signal of say six seconds ceasing, the positions of the hands-of all the clocks are corrected.

Statics (or else strays or other parasitic currents) 'of the installations may have a great intensity and cause the core to raise somewhat for a moment but owing to their 'short duration they will not raise it to the height of the lever i, so there is no danger of an undesirable correction being effected. in order to prevent needless functioning (originated by parasitic currents) of the sensitive relay 11, its circuit is ordinarily interrupted and will be closed by the hand 18 seconds before the hand comesto the time position which is to be corrected and opened at about thirty seconds thereafter. The principle of the conservative device, though known, is illustrated in Fig. 2 wherein the hand 18 of the clock in coming in contact with the contact segment 19, purposes the receiving station for action.

Relays of retarded action are known in themselves, also special means for their retardation such as springs, dashpots or devices having an analogous effect. The new point in the special retarded relay is that it causes the correction of the installation at the endof the time signal or other signal sent out of the central controlling station.

The time signal may of course in the case of an existing wiring system be transmitted by wire rather than by wireless, (this being the case for instance for a railway company) the function of-the special retarded relaybeing otherwise the same.

A warning device may be added which shows when, n consequence of a disorder in the installation, the setting of the hands has not been-effected. In installations in which thesetting of the hands of clocks is done abruptly the the ordinary type of retarded relay can be;

used (which acts at the moment when the core raises to its highest position). Such installation is seen in Figure 3 and the commOn retarded relay thereof is designated by 20. The setting of the hands in such an installation will occur not at the. end of the time signal which may be of5 seconds but at the end of the raising of the core of said common retarded relay, which may be effectuated in about three seconds, correction. will occurtwo seconds too early,

thus the mitted. Therefore and an error of two seconds would be comin such installations there is adjoined, to the mechanism of the correcting cam of the form a heart, a secondary additional mechanism permitting the clockwork to be stopped at the moment of the action of the correcting cam and to be set in motion again after the falling down of the core of the common retarded signal relay 20. This function can easily be obtained in utilizin the beginning of the stroke of the finger 1 to stop the clockwork and the final part of the backstroke of said finger to cause it to're'sume its going, that is the final part of the restoring stroke of the armature of the final relay 16 causes for instance the motion of the pendulum of the clock, having been formerly disconnected, to be reconnected with the clockwork.

' The disengaging and engaging mechanism thus added to the clock makes the use of the common type of the retarded relays possible, without altering the general type of the installation, the corrected movement of the clock works beginning only at the end of the time-signal as before. 7 i

i The only difference is that in the first case correction is effected in one single step, the hand alone being corrected, the clock going all the time, and in the other that the clock is first of all stopped then the hand corrected (first step) and finally the clock caused to resume its going (second step).

The mechanism for stopping and restarting the clockwork maybe of any known kind, it may for instance as already explained consist in disconnecting and reconnecting the otherwise undisturbed motion of the pendulum with the remaining clockwork the pendulum itself being kept electrically moving and being in such case the real motor of the clockwork.

In the Figs. 2 and 3 means have been shown to correct abruptly the position of the hands without correcting the going'of the clockwork itself, Fig. 4 shows schematically a part of the installation for the telemechanic correction of the going of the clock itself consistin for instance in the daily interference wi h the conditions of swinging of the pendulum.

The pendulum 21 (Fig. 4) may be fitted with any suitable device for influencing its period of oscillation, and consisting in the regulating of a feeble electric current passing in the windings of a stationary electromagnet 22, the extremity of the pendulum being fitted with a permanent magnet 23 one of the poles thereof passing in the proximity of one of the poles of the said electromagnet 22. If the thus juxtaposed poles are of the same name the time of oscillation of the pendulum is increased; when there is no current in the electromagnet 22 the pendulum keeps its natural value, and ifthe current is reversedin the windings of the electromagnet 22 the time of oscillation of the pendulum is shortened. These influences are dependent in acting on the intensity of the current circulating in the electromagnet 22 in either' direction. A suitable device consisting of a double rheostat and two sources of current able to perform this function may be utilized having a contact arm 24 having a non-contact middle position (as drawn in full lines), with the possibility of several positions for sending positive current of increasing'intensity' in the windings of the electromagnet 22 (position of arm drawn in .dotted lines) and the possibility of several positions for sending negative current (position of arm drawn in dot and dash lines) The 'telemechanic intervention changes daily the position of the contact arm 24, said position remaining exchanged between two telemechanic interventions The contact arm 24 is rotated at the occasion of a telemechanic intervention, either to the left or to the right, by a convenient means for instance by motor 250 The current for this motor comes for instance from the two opposite junctions 26 and 27 of a Wheatstone bridge, the other two junctions 28 and 29 being connected to a source of current 30 with the interposition of a contact-gap 31 which commonly arrests the current from flowing through the Wheatstone bridge. The said contact-gap 31 is closed only during the time of the totally raised position of a common retarded relay 20. The bridge isunbalanced one of its resistances (32), being less than the others. Therefore when the contact gap 31 is closed the armature of the little electric motor 25 will receive the current in the direction indicated by the arrow 33 (drawn in full lines). The resistance 34 of the Wheatstone bridgecan in certain positions of the hand 18. of the clock be short circuited by a time contact 35 and when this short circuit is actually effected the Wheatstone bridge willbe put out of its former condition and the electric motor 25 will receive a reversed current the direction of which is indicated by the dotted arrow 36.

If the signal arrives before the hand 18 arm 24 as to slow down the oscillation of the i pendulum. The intervention of the electric motor 25 begins at the moment of the oil, as

total raising of the core of the common retarded relay 20, such as seen in the Fig. 4, providing that an ordinary retarded relay is used, and said intervention will cease at the moment of theending'of the time tele-signal. At such moment the contact gap 31 will be open again and the flowin of current through the vVli'heatstone br1dge arrested. If the special retarded relay {12 (shown in Fig. 1) is used in the installation of Figure 4:, the tele-intervention will last as long as the airgap between contact 6, and lever a of said relay 12 is closed during the descent down of the core l. The contact-arm 24: remains in the corrected posi tion until the next telemechanic intervention takes place. If the clock is correctly regulated there will be in principle just as long a time duration (at the occasion of one telemechanic intervention) during which the electric motor 25 time to the right as there will be a'time duration during which said electric motor turns to the left, so that the position of the arm 24: remains practically unvaried. With the installation shown in Fig. 1 it is important to use retarded relays having an exactly regulated time for rising. lhis condition is unimportant when in the same installation special retarded relays such as shown in Fig. 1 are utilized instead of the common retarded relay 20 shown on said Fig. l.

l am aware that the regulation of clocks by means of telemechanic arrangements has been made before, I therefore do not claim the installation broadly but,

I claim:

1. In a telemetricsystem for clock regulation by'Hertzian regulating signals, a regu lating means for imposing regulative interference upon a moving part of a clock, actuating means for said regulating means comprising an electro-magnet energized in response tol-lertzian tele-signals, an armature therefor having a wide range of movement, said regulatingmeans being situated at such point in thepath of movement of said armature as will be passed by the latter in response to protracted energization only of said electro-magnet, said means being actuated by said armature on its return movement to terminate the regulative interference upon cessation of the Hertzian telesignal.

2. in a telemetric system for clock regulation by Hertzian regulating signals, regulating means for imposing regulative interference upon a moving part of a clock, actuating means for putting said regulating means into and out of operation comprising an 'electro-magnet energized in response to llertzian tele-signals, an armature for said magnet having a range or movement proportional to the duration of energization of said electro-ma-gnet, said regulating means bemesses ing" located at such point in the path of movement of said armature as will be passed by said armature in response to protracted energization only of said electro-magnet, said regulating means being actuated solely through the kinetic energy of said armature on its return movement, to terminate said regulative interference at the cessation of the Hertzian tele-signals.

' 3. In a telemetric system for clock regulation by Hertzian regulating signals, regulating means for imposing regulative interference upon a moving part of a clock, said means comprising a circuit including a solenoid and-a source of current, a switch in' said circuit, actuating means for closing and o enin said switch com risin an eleotroa magnet energized in response to Hertzian tele-signals, an armature for said. electromagnet having a range oi movement proportional to the duration of energization of said electro-magnet, said switch being located at such point in the path of movement of said armature as will be passed by said armature in response to protracted energization only of said electro-magnet, said switch being opened solely through the kinetic energy of said armature on its return movement to terminate said re ulative interference at the cessation of t e Hertzian telesignal.

4; In a telemetric receivin installation for regulation of clocks by ertzian tele signals, a retarded relay energized. in response to Hertzian tele-signals, a clock having a moving part, regulating means to regulate the movement of said moving part," an

. electric circuit divided into branches having unequal resistance, said regulating means being connected into both branches of said circuit, a switch in said circuit controlled by said retarded relay, said switch being closed, held closed and opened by said relay durin the period of duration of said Hertzian tele-signal, a second switch in said circuit controlled by the moving part of said.

clock and arranged to be open during the period when the tele-signal is not awaited and to be closed at about the mid period of the duration of the Hertzian tele-signal, said contacts when closed short circuiting the resistance in the branch of said circuit having the greater resistance so as to shift the preponderance of resistance to the other branch and reverse the direction of current through said regulating means,-said regulating means acting to accelerate or'slow down the movement of the moving part of the clock according to'whether the second switch is closed or i open at the time of closing oi the first switch by said retarded relay.

5. In a telemetric receiving installation for the regulation of clocks by llertzian telesignals, a clock work, an electr c-magnetic means for accelerating or slowing down said masses 5' clock work, said electro-megnetic meins'being common to two circuits of opposite. po-

larity, a variable resistance for each circuit,

a switch for selectively closing either circuit a reversible electric motor for actuating said switch to close either circuit, means for reversing the direction of current through said motor comprising a Wheatstone bridge, having an unbalanced limb of less, resistance than the other limbs, a source of current connecteoi to opposite junctions thereof, a. re tarded relay in circuit with said source of current anti controlling switch contacts, said contacts being closed during part of the 1.. a .P ",3 \"-l on Sol'Gmo -11; the armature or sent retey and closed also during partofthe return stroke thereof, a circuitconnectedto the other opposite junctions of the Wheatst'one bridge and including the electric motor, switch con- 'tacts in saidgcireuit operated by said clock the current through sai i electric motor.

In testimony whereof I sleeve hereunto my hand in presence ofe w -ess,

A RMAND M a "at v Witness:

Victor-2. .1. I-"JARENDOWEEJQ 

